A slicing machine is known for use on foodstuffs such as sausage, cheese, boned meat, sandwich loaf, and the like which automatically cuts a succession of slices from the foodstuff, and then deposits the slices in a plurality of rows on a support. Such a device is described, for example, in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,834,529 and 4,185,527, my Austrian Pat. No. 324,874, and my copending application No. 911,289.
It is possible for such a system to have a conveyor belt provided with a multiplicity of upstanding pins and positioned to receive the slices from the blade and deposit them at appropriate locations on the substrate. The substrate itself may be movable, and it is even possible to provide a fixed deposition location and a substrate which is displaceable in two horizontal and mutually orthogonal directions. A pivotal deposition arrangement may also be provided in combination with a movable or even fixed substrate for forming a two-dimensional slice display. Such a display finds particular use in the production of attractive packages of cold cuts and the like wherein the slices are offset from each other so that the consumer can see the product clearly.
Such a system normally has adjustments which allow the offset between adjacent slices in a given row of the array to be made as well as an adjustment for the spacing between adjacent rows. Thus when a foodstuff of relatively large diameter is cut these spacings are set relative large, whereas for a smaller foodstuff the spacings are made small.
The disadvantage of such a system is that many elongated foodstuffs are not of perfectly uniform width from one end to the other. Thus as the slices are being cut from the end, for example, of a salami, the relatively large spacing usable in the middle of the salami will be so great that the slices will lie totally separate from one another and the package thus produced will be unattractive. Furthermore time-consuming adjustment is needed each time foodstuff size is changed.
Another problem in the food business is that the slicing of wurst, cheese and the like is effected in two separate operations on different devices. Modern automatic slicing machines can by means of a laying-off device array the slices on the entire surface of a rectangular laying-off plate or on a round platter. Electronic calculating scales allow not only an indication of the weight but can also calculate the price based on the programmed unit weight price.
Practice has shown that each of these machines has reached a relatively high state of perfection that does not, however, eliminate the repetitive labor and time expense of the slicing on the slicing machine, checking the weight throughout, additional slicing, and reweighing. Thus each time the weight is checked the waxed paper with the slices on it must be taken off the slicing machine, placed on the scale, and then laid back on the output side of the slicing machine for further slicing. Only an experienced salesperson can estimate weight based on quantity with any degree of accuracy, and even then only if the quantity is of a familiar magnitude, such as 10 dkg. Constant rechecking of the weight during an automatic operation interferes with the arrangement of the slices in a pattern and thus destroys their appearance on the platter. It is to be noted further that at present many persons are employed who are not competent to judge weight based on sliced amounts.